


A Stolen Day

by onekingdomonce



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Kings Rising, damen and laurent being cute and domestic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 14:05:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11715903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onekingdomonce/pseuds/onekingdomonce
Summary: During a busy week at the palace, Damen and Laurent sneak away in disguise.Captive Prince Week 2017:Disguise/“I am the soul of discretion.”





	A Stolen Day

“This is a bad idea,” Damen whispered as he tugged the sleeve of his jacket down over his cuff.

“You’ve mentioned,” Laurent replied as he lowered the hood of his cloak further down his eyes, shielding the blue. “Just as our timing at the Summer Palace had been, and just as when we left the palace to Nikandros and went to meet Charls.”

“We’re not meeting Charls now,” Damen said.

“No,” Laurent agreed, taking Damen’s hand. “This is just us.”

Damen smiled, lifting Laurent’s wrist to his mouth before turning the corner, making for the door behind one of the pillars, out of the view from anyone passing by it. 

“Let’s go.”

 

Damen and Laurent were out in the open, walking through the marketplace together, their hands linked. They each had sleeves coming down passed their wrist, but Damen could still feel the press of metal from Laurent’s cuff against his own hand. The smooth, solid feel of it was like a comfort.

Damen did not come to the marketplace often, as it was not a king’s place to shop for himself. They each had servants for that, and it was unsafe for royalty to walk around these parts, especially unguarded, but he knew Laurent enjoyed exploring the different stands and taking part in the simplicity, and Damen enjoyed seeing Laurent happy. Damen did not particularly relish the thought of walking unattended, despite the fact that he and Laurent could sufficiently hold their own against an attacker. However, most people outside the palace could not recognize them, especially this deep into the village, and so long as their cuffs were out of sight and Laurent’s bright hair was covered, they had no cause to worry. 

They circled around the different tents, taking in all that was being sold at various prices. There was plenty of food; an array of sweet fruits, platters of nuts and sweetmeats, the fresh smell of loafs of bread wafting through the air. There were stands laying out jewelry, all different kinds of paintings and little trinkets for a home.

“Would you like something?” Damen asked, speaking low in Laurent’s ear.

He watched as Laurent observed everything around him, his expression light and at ease, despite the dark shadows his cloak cast on his face. He nodded his head at one of the tables holding the sweets, causing Damen to smile.

“Of course,” he said, making for the stand.

The vendor stood up straighter as they approached, a reaction Damen was used to. They may have not been recognizable, but Damen’s size and Laurent’s surety tended to receive such attentiveness.

“How can I help you both?”

Laurent’s eyes scanned the contents of the table, waving his hand in the general direction of the candied nuts and jellies. “How much?”

The man clasped his hands in front of him. “I sell them by the pound,” he said. “It is four silver lei’s per.”

Damen nodded, and watched as Laurent filled a sack with everything he wanted, occasionally adding in things of his own. He was not much one for sweets, but he enjoyed the occasional indulgence. 

When they were finished they paid the man, nodding in farewell as he thanked them for their purchase. They bid him a good day and turned away, winding their way through the rest of the market.

Damen looked through the corner of his eye as Laurent pulled out a small, flaky pastry, coated in nuts that were sticking together with glazed honey.

“I don’t understand how you can stomach it,” Damen said. “It is sickly.”

Laurent raised a brow as he lifted the unfinished pastry to Damen’s lips, waiting for him to open his mouth.

“You like it,” he murmured, the side of his mouth lifting as Damen inevitably ate from his hand. Laurent traced the line of Damen’s bottom lip after, some of the stickiness from the honey still on his finger.

Laurent pulled his hand away with a growing smile, just as Damen had begun to re open his mouth.

“Come,” Laurent said, beginning to walk again. “I want to hear the music.“

They walked what was now the familiar route, occasionally stopping to observe the stands or to feed each other sweets. They were each a bit more inhibited when others were around, but the disguises almost made it feel like they were alone. 

They reached a clearing near the end of the strip where a man always sat against a low tree, a kithara in his lap between his crossed legs. He played a number of different melodies, a wooden bowl on the ground by his feet where people would occasionally toss in copper sols as he played. 

There were different groups of children around, a handful of them recognizable. There were multiple boys and girls playing with a dusty looking ball on the side, a game Damen had seen them play before but still didn’t quite understand the gist of. There were a group of girls standing in a circle, matching scarfs with tinkling bells wrapped around their waists, causing a rhythmic chiming sound to ring out as they danced in what was an attempt at a synchronized dance. Other children were simply playing with each other, calling out random things or chasing each other around the small fountain. 

Damen looked over to Laurent and saw him watching the children play, a serene look on his face that Damen could not explain, only admire. A slight breeze caused the hood of his cloak to sway, but not enough to fall down his head.

Damen brought his hand to Laurent’s arm, brushing the fabric with his thumb. When Laurent turned to face him, Damen simply tilted his head with a soft smile. Laurent smiled back at him briefly, leaning over to kiss Damen’s cheek before walking over towards the children.

Damen watched with an indescribable feeling in his chest as Laurent crouched low, lowering himself to the children’s level, making eye contact with them as he spoke. He was incapable of exuding himself as anything but regal, but he never made children feel inferior to him, like he was someone for them to fear. A few moments like this passed before two of the children were laughing, a third one tossing the ball to Laurent which he caught with ease.

Laurent passed the ball back and fourth between his two hands, all of the children’s eyes following the motion as they nodded at whatever it was Laurent was saying, entirely mystified. Eventually Laurent rose from the ground, and that movement seemed to set everything in motion. Two girls stood on either side of him, a few feet apart each of them, and two boys and a girl mirrored their position across from them, the remaining children created a line in between them, each facing a different way. Laurent called out something Damen could not decipher from where he stood, tossed the ball into the air, and all of the children acted at once.

About five minutes passed like this, Damen remaining where he was, preferring one of them to remain as vigilant as possible when they had days like this where they left the palace. It was while Damen was smiling helplessly as Laurent and a young boy fought over the ball, laughter etched into each of their faces when Damen felt a tug on his sleeve.

“Lamen!” 

Damen quickly turned at the familiar voice, looking down at the young girl with large green eyes and light brown hair that winded down one shoulder.

“Hello,” he smiled. 

She smiled back up at him, bringing a hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun. “You’re back.”

“I’m back,” Damen said. He crouched down in front of her so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to look up at him, though he was still a few inches above her. “How is your brother?” he asked.

“He is well,” she replied, twirling her hair around her finger. “He’s feeling much better now that we gave him the remedy you suggested, though he doesn’t like the broth.”

“Neither do I,” Damen replied.

She looked around him for a moment before speaking in her light voice. “Is Charls here?” she asked, tugging on her hair now.

Damen turned slightly and motioned behind him, back to where Laurent was kicking the ball around with the children. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed Damen’s hand unselfconsciously, tugging on him to rise and yanking him with her towards the growing group.

The game was still in full swing, but Laurent paused when he felt Damen approach, grabbing the ball instead of kicking it towards someone else. He turned to Damen with a quirked brow, but his expression immediately shifted into something else when he noticed the girl holding Damen’s hand.

“Hello, Adalene,” he said, looking down at her with a tender expression.

Adalene clasped her hands behind her back and smiled a big, gap toothed smile up at Laurent, her cheeks tingeing pink the way they normally did when Laurent set his attention on her. 

“Where is your hat?” she asked him. “The one with the big feather,” she explained, spreading her arms out wide on either side of her.

“I’ve misplaced it,” Laurent said.

“A real shame,” Damen added.

Adalene pouted as if she was upset for Laurent, her features souring slightly for a moment before her face lit up like she thought of something to raise his spirits.

“I’ve been practicing the trick you taught me,” she said, lifting her chin proudly. “My father can never understand where his coins keep going.” She then stretched back the fabric from the pocket of her dress, showing three glinting coins packed in tight. She attempted what Damen assumed was a wink, though it only caused her nose to wrinkle, one eye scrunching too tightly.

Laurent grinned at her, seemingly genuinely proud of her. Damen found Laurent’s private love of magic tricks charming, if not a bit under practiced. 

“Next time, I will teach you something with cards,” he promised.

Adalene beamed, just as they heard the loud, thundering sound of horse hooves against cobblestones. Most of the children flinched and covered their ears, frowning until the sound passed.

“Why does that keep happening?” a young girl with dark hair asked.

“My mother says they are going to the palace,” one of the boys answered. “Groups have been coming for days now.”

“My father was speaking of it this morning,” another boy said, the ball in his hands now. “He says they are arriving in preparation for the banquet this week.”

“What banquet?” Laurent asked.

“The banquet in celebration for the anniversary of the unification of the kingdoms,” a girl standing near the back of the crowd said, in a voice that suggested that Laurent was senseless for not knowing. “My aunt does not believe they have lasted two years without a war breaking out,” she added.

“No?” Damen said.

“Who?” another girl asked.

“King Damianos and King Laurent,” she explained, in a voice similar to the way she answered Laurent’s question. She looked at the girl. “I agree with her. I don’t know how the kings can be united, after everything.”

“They must be happy together,” Laurent guessed.

Adalene looked up at Damen and Laurent. “Like you two?”

Damen kissed Laurent’s fingers. “Yes.”

A chorus of groans and displeased sounds rung out around them, only causing the flush on Laurent’s cheeks to spread. Before either of them could speak, the boy with the ball stepped forward and pushed it into Damen’s arms. “Will you play with us, Lamen? I want you on my team.”

Laurent looked at Damen, a glint in his eyes. “Yes, play with us. Those large hands should be good for something.”

Damen opened his mouth to respond, immediately closing it when he remembered their company. Instead he took the ball from the boy, his eyebrows raised as he took a step towards Laurent. “You think you can beat me?”

 

Damen and Laurent were sitting by the stone ledge, looking out onto the water as the sun set over it, ripples of gold and orange tinting the deep blue. Damen’s arm was around Laurent’s waist, Laurent’s head on his shoulder.

“We do need to return eventually,” Damen reminded him.

He felt Laurent laugh against him, turning his head and propping his chin on Damen’s shoulder. “Are you suggesting that I’m shirking my duties?” Laurent asked.

“Would I?”

“Not if you were wise,” Laurent responded, but he lifted a candy to Damen’s lips as he did.

Damen took it, closing the small gap between them and pressing their lips together after, the sugar still lining his lips.

Eventually they pulled apart, looking back to the water after. They sat in silence until the sun had dipped low enough that there were shadows around them, plunging them in darkness. Damen stood up first, offering Laurent his hand and pulling him up with a firm grasp.

They made their way for where they had previously left their horses, more so strolling than walking. Lanterns had been lit on either side of them, the roads and booths now lighting up in a dim glow. It was significantly quieter than it had been in the morning, the conversation around them more so a low, comforting murmur. 

They reached their horses rather quickly, tethered to a tree in a small field by the water bank. Damen waited as Laurent mounted first, leaning his forearms on Laurent’s thigh after, setting his chin on them as he gazed up at him. Laurent ran his hand through Damen’s hair, not at all looking bothered by the fact that Damen was simply looking at him, rather than mounting his own horse. 

“We cannot run off every time we wish,” Damen said, eventually pulling away. “We have responsibilities, and certain expectancies.”

“Of course we can,” Laurent replied, removing the hood of his cloak, his eyes bright and alive. “We are the kings of Vere and Akielos.”

**Author's Note:**

> [ @laurent-ofvere](http://laurent-ofvere.tumblr.com)   
> 


End file.
